By 2030, a whole new set of procurement and supply professionals may occupy leadership positions in the profession, including the coveted chief procurement officer (CPO) roles. How do you position yourself for these roles now? What are the key skills and behaviours that will be required? What kind of procurement and supply professional do you need to become to be a procurement and supply leader and CPO of 2030?
First, you need to recognise that the role of the procurement and supply professional is changing. Some 85% of UK-based respondents to the 2024 CIPS Procurement & Supply Salary survey expect that the next 10 years will see considerable changes in the way organisations work.
What this means is that you need to be focusing on the skills of tomorrow – today! This applies whether you are new to the profession, have years of experience, or are just considering procurement and supply as your next career move.
Drawing on the findings of the CIPS Procurement & Supply Salary Guide 2024, in partnership with Hays, here’s what it could take to be a procurement and supply leader in 2030.
Technical capabilities and a commitment to learning
For chief procurement officers and senior leaders, technical skills and capabilities are the foundation of career success and progression. This year’s survey shows the importance of MCIPS increases for those at higher job levels. Some 56% of UK-based recruiters look for MCIPS for procurement and supply hires at both the influencing and leading level.
Furthermore, almost two-thirds (64%) of procurement and supply professionals across the UK expect organisations to value procurement and supply qualifications more highly over the course of the next decade.
Having the MCIPS designation, with its strong technical grounding and focus on lifelong learning, demonstrates your commitment to technical excellence and can be a real differentiator when it comes to getting ahead in the jobs market.
Communication skills
For the procurement leader of 2030 to influence stakeholders and build trust and relevance in the C-suite, they will need outstanding communication skills. This year’s survey backs this up. Strong communication skills are seen as a top-three characteristic for future leaders across all the regions covered by this research.
The impact of technology
Artificial intelligence (AI) is shaping the future of procurement and supply. The primary impact, acknowledged across all regions in our survey, is expected to be the automation of manual processes.
Respondents across every region (except for Sub-Saharan Africa) expect AI to have a negative impact on procurement and supply headcounts. Reinforcing the need for procurement leaders to stay up to date with AI, Paul Blake, senior director of engagement at GEP, observes that, “AI may not take your job, but someone using AI will.”
But technology isn’t just a job-destroyer; it will create exciting new types of procurement and supply roles, and change the skills needed by those leading organisations.
Skilling up your team
Employees will need to acquire new skills because of greater automation. This is cited as the second-biggest impact of AI over the coming decade in four of the seven regions covered by this research.
Is the profession ready for these changes? Several regions in our research have a large proportion of their workforce feeling unprepared.
This is particularly apparent in the UK, where only 32% of procurement and supply professionals believe they are personally ready for how AI will affect their role. Meanwhile, only 30% think they are prepared for the impact of AI on the wider procurement and supply profession.
This is felt profoundly outside the private sector. Only 25% of respondents from the public sector feel professionally prepared for the impact of AI. For charities, this figure stands at just 21%.
Future CPOs will need strategic vision to navigate this change and lead their teams through it. As part of this preparation, CPOs will need to focus on embracing a culture of continuous learning to help prepare their teams for future success.
Tomorrow’s CPOs will also need to prioritise not only equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I), but also environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.
Our research points to the many benefits of having a diverse workforce and shows that organisations need to prioritise ED&I more. It follows that tomorrow’s CPOs should be inclusive leaders to navigate more effectively in the future.
In terms of ESG, latest insights from our Global State of Procurement & Supply report show the growing importance of ESG for procurement and leaders. According to the report, three-quarters of procurement and supply leaders (78%) believe that ESG issues are growing in importance in their organisation. Tomorrow’s CPOs must therefore dial up more on ESG in their leadership of the profession.
Find out how CIPS can help with your professional development and prepare your skills to help you thrive in this emerging new world. Click here.